Less than a third (31%) of female respondents do not how much they have saved into their pension, compared to 21% of men, according to research by Aegon.
Its Retirement confidence survey, which polled 946 UK non-retired individuals, further revealed that 15% of women have no pension arrangements in place.
The research also found:
- 11% of male respondents are not paying into any kind of pension plan.
- 15% of male respondents have saved more than £300,000 into their retirement savings, compared to just 4% of women.
- 6% of female respondents are confident they will have ample funds for retirement, compared to 13% of men.
Kate Smith (pictured), head of pensions at Aegon, said: “These figures are staggering and show just how wide the gap between men and women is when it comes to preparing well for retirement. We know that there are a number of factors that impact a woman’s ability to save for retirement, including career breaks to raise a family or care for elderly parents, however our research shows that many women are burying their heads in the sand and failing to prepare for retirement.
“The widening pensions saving gap between men and women shouldn’t be ignored and the sooner that women are able to engage with pension saving, the better. Everyone should think ahead to retirement, regardless of their age or gender and when it comes to pension saving, it’s good to regularly check in how much [employees] hold in savings and where possible, [they should] think about paying in more in order to have the lifestyle [they] want in retirement.”